


Call It Even

by Lady_Ganesh



Category: Saiyuki, Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Community: intoabar, Crossover, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-20
Updated: 2018-05-20
Packaged: 2019-05-08 20:21:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 895
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14701506
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lady_Ganesh/pseuds/Lady_Ganesh
Summary: A priest and a Downworlder walk into a bar, and cut a deal.





	Call It Even

Magnus reminded himself, not for the first time, that he needed to start selecting meeting spaces himself. It wasn’t that he minded the grimier alleys of Hong Kong, exactly, but he minded them less when he’d chosen them personally. And the bar was hardly Magnus's usual style; cramped, grimy, almost deserted. A pretty girl in a pink-dyed fur coat in a booth, a dark-haired, broad-shouldered man near the door. 

And sitting at the bar, someone who stood out as brightly as the full moon on a cloudy night. Bright blond hair, spotless white robes that looked Chinese and Buddhist.

When he turned his face to glance at the door, he was astonishingly beautiful.

Well. Dot had said _You'll know him when you see him._ She hadn't been wrong.

"Mr. Bane," the man said in Mandarin, when Magnus slid onto the stool at his side. He'd already turned back to his drink.

"I'm afraid I'm not sure of your title."

"Sanzo's fine." He didn't turn around. Magnus couldn't remember the last time he'd seen someone so lovely, or so empty. "You've got the spell."

"I've got it," Magnus said. "It won't be easy. And it'll be painful."

He smirked. "I'm not unfamiliar with pain, Mr. Bane."

"I'm sure that’s not the case," Magnus said, wondering how many people had made that assumption and regretted it. " I'm telling you what you should expect. They told me you were a trained priest, so I assume you know basic meditation, focusing techniques--"

"I'm not an amateur," he said. Magnus couldn’t place his accent.

Magnus took the vial out of his pocket. "You'll need to keep your heartbeat as calm and steady as possible. Drink it at midnight, during the next full moon. The rest will have to be up to you. The spell should--help guide you where you need to go. I can do no more than that. No force on Earth can."

"Of course," Sanzo said. His thumb tapped against his glass. "You'll want your payment."

"I'm afraid, in current circumstances, payment is...rather necessary."

Sanzo's nod was curt. He reached inside the sleeve of his robe and pulled out a small sheaf of fuda. "These are all for protection, as you requested," he said. "They're easy. Like stickers. Slap them on, they'll do what you need them to do."

"Stickers," Magnus said, dubiously, but he could feel the power in them. 

"We're doing business or we're leaving."

"Of course," Magnus said, pushing the vial over and taking the fuda. Smaller than a deck of cards, and all but burning in his hand. "I assume I don't need to count them?"

The priest shrugged. "Suit yourself."

"I'd say I'll look forward to doing business with you again, but I've got a feeling that you wouldn't."

For a second, the tiniest hint of a smile flitted over Sanzo's face. "I applaud your ability to perceive the obvious." He took the vial, and it disappeared into his sleeve. 

"Dot said you were in the wrong place," he said. "But it's more than that, isn't it?"

"It doesn't matter," he said, and drained his glass. "What matters is that I need to get back there."

"Good luck," Magnus said.

"If you've done your job," the priest said, "I won't need it."

"I don't mean for getting there," he said. "I mean once you get back."

Sanzo hesitated for a second, then snorted. "I'll make my own luck then." He slapped a coin on the counter and rose to leave. "Save any luck for the person you're trying to protect with that fuda."

Magnus was used to reading people, but still not wholly used to having them read him back. 

"He's mortal?" Sanzo asked.

"As mortal as you," Magnus replied. 

"Don't lose him, then," Sanzo said. He was good enough with the robes that they shifted, automatically, as he stepped off the stool. A Silent Brother would’ve been set up for a pratfall. He fished in his sleeve as he walked out the door, producing a pack of cigarettes and a lighter as he went. 

"Hey," the bartender said as she noticed the coin, "that's not--"

"It's enough," Magnus said, picking up the coin. "I'll cover it."

Nothing could make a mundane last forever, or render them invulnerable. But Magnus had time in his hands now. That was worth a whisky, a few drinks, any spell. He guessed the priest felt much the same about what he’d got in trade.

Magnus picked up the coin. It was Chinese, but little else was familiar about it. Whoever the priest had been, wherever he'd come from, he was a very long way from home. He might not want luck, but Magnus wished for it anyway. Whoever he was trying to get back to...

If they were both lucky, he'd never know the details, would he?

His phone buzzed. _I forgot where you are today. Is it somewhere good? Can you pick up dinner?_

_Pad Thai?_

_Sounds great. I'll make something tomorrow, make up for it._

_You don't need to,_ Magnus sent back. _I've got a better idea._ His hand had strayed to the fuda at his chest. 

_That sounds promising._

_I don't make promises I can't keep._ Magnus pulled out his wallet to pay. 

He tucked the coin in with his change. You never knew when something like that would come in handy.


End file.
